ABC News’ Leigh Ann Caldwell covered the story of Scott Panetti and Rick Perry’s actions on his case. She said,

A U.S. Appeals Court’s decision to issue a stay of a mentally ill man on Texas’ death row just hours before he was scheduled to be executed means that Texas Governor Rick Perry no longer needs to make what could have been a controversial decision on whether the execution should proceed.

Perry could have granted a 30 day stay – the only option under his authority – but he remained mum on the issue, despite pressure from anti-death penalty groups, the United Nations and even some conservatives who don’t necessarily oppose the death penalty.

I was also interviewed as part of this story,

But Marc Hyden with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty said conservative attitudes are shifting as well. He said that when he debuted his group at a popular conservative conference, CPAC, in 2012, he was concerned about the reception he would receive. Now Hyden points to three letters sent to Perry urging him to commute Panetti’s sentence. One letter was sent by a group of evangelical pastors, another by former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and third by a broad group of conservatives, including former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who don’t necessarily oppose the death penalty but do in the Panetti case because of the proven tragic mental state of Panetti.